Simplified: Last spring, Sioux Falls Housing decided to set aside a portion of Section 8 housing vouchers to help chronically homeless people not only find housing, but keep it. Here's what you need to know.
Why it matters
- Sioux Falls Housing started a new effort in the last year to set aside 3 percent of the city's Section 8 housing vouchers to assist people who are chronically homeless. That amounts to about 65 vouchers.
- City Homeless Coordinator Michelle Treasure credited these vouchers as one of many reasons the city saw a slight decline in its annual point-in-time homelessness count in January. Other factors contributing to that decline in homelessness are an increase in street-level outreach and the county's Just Home project.
- So far, 33 vouchers have been used to help house people referred by local nonprofits and service agencies – with a specific emphasis on helping families with young kids. Of those, 32 remain housed so far, according to Sioux Falls Housing Executive Director Larissa Deedrich.
"It's not just about getting them under a roof, it's about making sure they've got the tools in place so they can stay housed," Deedrich said.
Tell me more about housing vouchers
Sioux Falls can award as many as 2,500 Section 8 vouchers, which ensures a person never pays more than 30% of their income on housing. Though that many vouchers are allocated, the federal funding isn't enough to cover them all. Those constraints mean only about 1,730 vouchers are in use right now, Deedrich said.
- That leaves another 2,000 residents on wait lists.
- Vouchers see very slow turnover because the only ways another voucher becomes available is either a person becomes ineligible due to income increases, or they become ineligible if they move to an assisted living facility (because Medicaid takes over from there).
"We have people who’ve been on the program 20+ years, and they're probably never going to afford to be able to get off the program," Deedrich said.
One of the ways Sioux Falls Housing looks to increase turnover of vouchers is through a "Family Self-Sufficiency" program that helps connect people with resources, to go to college, get a better job and ultimately increase their income and build up a savings account they can then access upon graduating the program after five years.
- All of the people who received the set-aside vouchers to help the chronically homeless are also participating in this self-sufficiency program, Deedrich said.
Sioux Falls Housing is also strongly encouraging voucher recipients to continue working with any case managers at other nonprofits. In order to access a set-aside voucher, a person has to be referred by an organization like local shelters or agencies providing support services.
What happens next?
The goal is to have all 65 vouchers in use by the end of September, Deedrich said.
Sioux Falls Housing will also soon be announcing a new fundraising campaign to help cover the gap between what federal funding covers and the needs of people as they find housing.
- That could include things like security deposits, furnishing homes, or including more people in the Family Self-Sufficiency program.
